Top grid regulator stepping down

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, who oversaw a broad expansion of the regulator’s oversight of the electric grid and several probes into improper trading tactics by Wall Street banks, will depart his post.

FERC has a broad set of regulatory powers over interstate power and natural gas lines, energy markets, and hydropower facilities, and Wellinghoff, a Democrat, rankled some Republican lawmakers for rebuffing requests that the agency conduct more analyses on whether EPA air regulations might threaten the reliability of the power grid.

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Wellinghoff also shepherded the agency’s landmark Order 1000, in 2011, which required grid planners and public utilities to coordinate regional power line projects and encouraged the integration of solar and wind installations. The rule also called for regional partners to devise how to spread the costs of certain new transmission projects across the industry.

During Wellinghoff’s tenure, the agency’s enforcement office launched series of high-profile investigations into allegations of market manipulation, fraud and tariffs, and has sunk its teeth into the energy units of Deutsche Bank and Barclays. In fiscal 2012, FERC extracted $267 million in setttlements, including a $245 million package from Constellation Energy related to violations of its anti-manipulation rule and a rule barring the submission of inaccurate or misleading information.

Wellinghoff said late last year the agency was not targeting Wall Street, calling FERC “an equal opportunity enforcer.”

“We’ll go after anybody we believe is engaged in an activity that is inappropriate in violation of the statute,” he said in December.

FERC has also played a role in JPMorgan Chase’s recent regulatory woes.

The agency informed the bank in March that FERC staff is recommending that a possible enforcement action be brought against JPMorgan stemming from an investigation into bidding practices in organized power markets, according a to regulatory filing released earlier this month.

The agency is alleging that the bank manipulated trading in California and Michigan electricity markets and that JPMorgan executives gave misleading statements to agency officials investigating the issue, according to the New York Times.

Wellinghoff submitted his resignation to President Barack Obama, according to a FERC spokeswoman, and will stay on until a new commissioner is confirmed to the five-member body.

The Obama administration has yet to nominate a replacement, which has kept many agency observers guessing for weeks. Colette Honorable, chairwoman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, has been rumored to be a top pick to replace Wellinghoff although it’s unclear whether a new commissioner or Commissioner John Norris, the next senior Democrat, would become chair.

Wellinghoff confirmed his resignation to SNL Energy late on Tuesday, and that he had met with senior FERC staff to tell them of his plans and that he will continue voting at FERC until he leaves.